The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
"The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" is a Sherlock Holmes short story by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It first appeared in print in the issue of The Strand magazine for September 1893. It would be republished in December of the same year as part of the anthology The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. In the story, a linguist called Melas tells the brilliant consulting detective Sherlock Holmes about an unusual crime. Melas was taken to a secret location where he was asked to act as an interpreter for a man who could only speak Greek. The man was clearly being kept prisoner. His face, including his mouth, was covered with sticking plaster. He responded to Melas' questions by writing on a slate. Before leaving the location, Melas found out that a Greek woman called Sophy was also being held prisoner there, The story is notable for introducing the character of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes' older brother who is even more intelligent than the detective. Mycroft also appears in "The Final Problem" (1893) and "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" (1908). The character of Sherlock Holmes' more knowledgeable and more gifted older brother has become more significant in more recent Sherlock Holmes stories by writers other than Doyle and in adaptations of Doyle's stories to other media. Plot Dr. John Watson and his friend Sherlock Holmes are having a conversation one summer evening. During the course of the conversation, Holmes refers to his older brother Mycroft who works for the governmentIn the 1908 story "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans", Sherlock Holmes says that he deliberately downplayed how important a person Mycroft was when he first told Watson about him. According to the 1908 story, Mycroft is the most valued adviser to the government and "occasionally he is the British Government". and whose powers of observation and deduction are even greater than those of Sherlock. Watson is surprised because Holmes has never spoken to him about his family before. Holmes tells Watson that Mycroft goes to the Diogenes Club, a club for people who do not want to socialize with the club's other members, each evening. Sherlock Holmes takes Watson there to meet his brother. Mycroft Holmes tells his brother that he has recently heard of a crime which may interest him. He calls over Mr. Melas, another member of the Diogenes Club and Mycroft's neighbor. Melas works as a tour guide and interpreter. He speaks several languages but, since he is of Greek origin, he is most often asked to translate to and from Greek. It is not unusual for Melas to be called upon to assist travelers who have arrived in London late at night. Therefore, he was not surprised when a man called Harold Latimer came to see him late in the evening. Latimer said that he wanted Melas' help in a business negotiation with a Greek gentleman. Melas was led to a carriage. After some time, Latimer took out a bludgeon and closed the carriage's windows. Melas saw that the windows were covered with paper to prevent him from seeing where he was going. After some two hours, Melas arrived at a dimly lit house. He was met by an older man. The man appeared to be nervous and kept laughing. However, Melas found the man menacing. The older man told Melas that he had to translate precisely what he was told into Greek and to add nothing else. He was led to a room where he saw a very thin man. The man's face was covered with sticking plaster. He could not speak because there was sticking plaster on his mouth. Melas was told to ask the man if he would sign some papers. The thin man replied by writing his answers in Greek on a slate. He answered that he would only agree if he saw a certain woman be married by a Greek priest that he knew. Melas began to add extra questions in order to find out if Harold Latimer and the older man understood Greek. When he found out that they did not, he began to ask more serious questions. Melas learned that the thin man's surname was Kratides, that he came from Athens and had been in London for three weeks. He did not know where the house in which he was being kept was and he was being starved by his captors. A young woman suddenly entered the room. She began speaking to Harold Latimer in English. When she saw the thin man, she was clearly surprised. She began speaking in Greek and called the man Paul. The man ripped the sticking plaster off his mouth and shouted the name Sophy. The two ran and embraced but were soon separated and taken off to different rooms. Melas was paid for his services and warned not to tell anybody about what he had seen in the house. He was taken by carriage to a place that he did not recognize near some train tracks. From a railway employee, Melas found out that he could just be in time to catch the last train to Victoria Station if he followed the tracks for a mile. Although he had been warned not to speak about it to anybody, Melas later told his neighbor Mycroft Holmes and the police about his experience. He fears that the police do not believe his strange story. Mycroft Holmes tells his brother that he has placed advertisements in all the newspapers offering a reward for any information about Paul Kratides and Sophy. So far, there have been no response. Before leaving the Diogenes Club, Sherlock Holmes warns Melas that his life is in danger. Harold Latimer and his accomplice will have found out about Mycroft's newspaper advertisements and realized that Melas has betrayed them. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson deduce that Paul Kratides and Sophy are brother and sister. Since Sophy speaks English but Harold Latimer does not speak Greek, Holmes thinks it is likely that they met in England. Holmes and Watson think it is likely that Harold Latimer persuaded Sophy to go away with him. Her brother in Greece found out about that and came to England. he was captured by Latimer and his older accomplice. The papers which the two men wanted Paul Kratides to sign would probably transfer ownership of Sophy's property to them. Sophy did not know that her brother was being kept in the same house where she was and found out by chance. When Holmes and Watson get back to their home in Baker Street, they find Mycroft waiting for them. Mycroft has had a reply to his newspaper advertisement. A man called J. Davenport has written to say that Sophy is being kept in a house called The Myrtles in Beckenham. Mycroft wants to go to question J. Davenport. Sherlock thinks that they should act quickly to save Paul Kratides' life. He says that they should go to Scotland Yard, fetch Inspector Gregson and get a warrant to search the house. Watson says that they should also fetch Melas in case they need an interpreter. On arrival at Melas' house, a woman tells Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft and Watson that Mr. Melas has just left with an older man who kept laughing. Holmes realizes that Melas' life is in great danger. It is several hours later when Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft, Watson and Inspector Gregson arrive at The Myrtles. The house appears to have been abandoned but Sherlock Holmes is able to break in through a window. A moaning noise is heard coming from upstairs. The door of the room that the sound is coming from is locked but its key is still outside. Inside the room, Sherlock Holmes finds Paul Kratides and Melas. Harold Latimer and his accomplice had attempted to poison the two men by burning charcoal. Paul Kratides is found to be dead already but Melas survives. From J. Davenport, Holmes and Watson later find out that Sophy Kratides came from a rich Greek family. She met Harold Latimer while visiting some friends in England. When Sophy went away with Latimer, her friends informed her brother in Athens. Unfortunately, Paul Kratides was taken prisoner by Harold Latimer and his older accomplice Wilson Kemp. They covered Paul's face with sticking plaster in a vain attempt to prevent Sophy from recognizing her brother. Harold Latimer and Wilson Kemp are later found stabbed to death in Budapest. The Hungarian police believe that the two men killed each other. Holmes, however, believes that Sophy Kratides managed to take her revenge on them. Adaptations "The Case of the French Interpreter", the fourteenth episode of the American TV series Sherlock Holmes, starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion Crawford as Watson, is a largely faithful adaptation of "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter". The episode was first shown in the United States in syndication on January 17, 1955. As the title suggests, the Greek characters are replaced by French ones. Melas, Paul Kratides and Sophy become Claude Dubec, Paul Charrand and Micheline. Among other changes from the original story, although he could not see where he was going, the interpreter is able to give Sherlock Holmes detailed information about sounds that he heard and the condition of the roads on which he traveled on the way to Harold Latimer's house. From these descriptions, Holmes is able to work out the location of the house. Both the interpreter and the other captive are rescued in time. Harold Latimer is arrested. His accomplice (renamed Judd) is shot by Sherlock Holmes. The character of Mycroft Holmes does not appear in the episode. The ninth episode of the Granada TV series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett, is an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter". It first aired in the United Kingdom on the ITV network on September 1, 1983. The actor Charles Gray, best known for his roles as Blofeld in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever and as the narrator in the 1975 movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show, appears in the episode as Mycroft. Although the adaptation is largely faithful to the original short story, the ending is changed. After rescuing Melas, Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft and Dr. Watson find out that Harold Latimer, Wilson Kemp and Sophia Kratides (as she is called in the episode) have left on a train which connects to a boat to France. Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft and Watson manage to catch up with the train before it makes its final stop in Dover. Harold Latimer is killed while trying to escape from the moving train. Wilson Kemp and Sophia Kratides are arrested. Although he does not like Sophia Kratides and finds her cold-hearted, Sherlock Holmes is confident that the police will release her without charge after questioning. Footnotes See also *Sound file of public domain audiobook of "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" from LibriVox *"The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb", another Sherlock Holmes story in which the client is taken to a dimly lit house in a secret location External links *Text of "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" on Wikisource. *"The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" on Baker Street wiki. Category:Detective Category:Mystery Category:Short Stories Category:Famous Category:Classic